Elma Lewis was one of the first recipients of a MacArthur Fellows Grant, in 1981, and received a Presidential Medal for the Arts by President Ronald Reagan in 1983.
23 Facts About Elma Lewis
2.
Elma Lewis is an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
3.
Lewis was born September 15,1921, in Boston to parents Clairmont and Edwardine Lewis who had immigrated from Barbados.
4.
Elma Lewis had two older brothers, Darnley and George from her mother's previous marriage.
5.
Elma Lewis attended the Ruggles Street Nursery School in 1924 where she was told her IQ was higher than it would be when she grew older.
6.
Elma Lewis's parents were followers of Marcus Garvey to whose ideas she attributes her racial pride and desire to promote African culture.
7.
Elma Lewis attended Roxbury Memorial High School for Girls where she studied voice, piano, and dance.
8.
Elma Lewis taught dance and drama at the Cambridge Community Center and fine arts at the Harriet Tubman House.
9.
Elma Lewis's school attracted many top professionals in the fine arts resulting in a very rigorous program.
10.
Elma Lewis founded the National Center of Afro-American Artists which served as an umbrella organization for the school, local arts groups, and a museum.
11.
Elma Lewis developed the Technical Theatre Program at the Massachusetts Correctional Institute.
12.
Elma Lewis was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1977.
13.
Elma Lewis was involved in promoting African American culture through art forms.
14.
Elma Lewis served as a board member for various organizations, including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Congressional Black Caucus, Metropolitan Cultural Alliance, and NAACP Lewis received the Commonwealth Award, Massachusetts' highest award in the arts, and myriad other honors including nearly thirty honorary doctorates from various universities.
15.
In 1973, Elma Lewis received a $350,000 grant from the Rockefeller foundation to update the school and pay the salaries of the school's staff.
16.
In 1981, Lewis was awarded the genius grant by the John D and Catherine MacArthur Foundation.
17.
In 1986 Elma Lewis received the Monarch Award from the National Council for Culture and Art.
18.
Elma Lewis became known as the Grande Dame of Arts in Roxbury due to her school, achievements in performing arts, and her community involvement.
19.
Elma Lewis started the Elma Lewis Playhouse in Franklin Park during the summer months which boasted artists such as Duke Ellington and Arthur Fiedler.
20.
Elma Lewis further launched a clean-up campaign remove debris and drug paraphernalia from Franklin Park.
21.
The Elma Lewis Playhouse was renamed the Elma Lewis Theater at Franklin Park in 2003.
22.
Elma Lewis was beginning to suffer from severe complications of diabetes.
23.
On January 1,2004, Elma Lewis died at the age of 82 in her Boston home from pulmonary complications stemming from diabetes.